A hundredfold return! My unfilial disciples are all reincarnations of the Empress.

He raised his hand and touched his chest, as if he could still feel the excruciating pain of his meridians being severed back then.

"Soon," he muttered to himself, sheathing his sword and returning to his cave.

Seven days after the main peak meeting ended, the patrolling disciples rushed back to the sect to report the news.

The demonic cultivators of Sunset Mountain Range made their move, splitting into three groups heading north. Along the way, they burned down three mortal villages and towns, leaving nothing but barren land in their path.

Lin Feng was gnawing on a white ginseng on the summit when he received the news. He stuffed the remaining half into his mouth, brushed the crumbs off his hands, and flew towards the main peak on his sword.

The atmosphere in the main hall was even more somber than last time. Master Xuanqing was not seated; he stood with his hands behind his back in front of the map, on which the Sunset Mountain Range was circled several times with a vermilion pen.

"They didn't come towards us," Zhen Yan said, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, his tone unusually serious. "They went slightly east, heading towards the territory of the Great Chu royal family."

Su Wanqing frowned: "There are troops stationed on royal territory, but they are all mortals and can't stop demonic cultivators."

Master Xuanqing looked up at Lin Feng: "Tell me."

Lin Feng walked to the map and pointed to the direction of the demonic cultivators' route: "If they don't stop, another 700 miles to the east is the royal spiritual vein reserve."

The hall was silent for two seconds.

Zhenyan straightened up: "Damn."

The spiritual vein reserve contains spirit stone mines and spiritual materials accumulated by the Great Chu royal family over decades. If they fall into the hands of demonic cultivators, it would be tantamount to giving them a wave of weapons for free.

Master Xuanqing decisively said, "Stop them. Sunset Mountain Range is closest to us. If Qingyun Palace doesn't act, it will be too late by the time the royal family sends troops."

"I'll lead the team," Lin Feng said.

Master Xuanqing glanced at him: "How many people do you want to choose?"

"Twenty will do; any more will get in the way."

Zhen Yan spat beside him: "Twenty people trying to stop a hundred or so demonic cultivators? Do you think you're still that Nascent Soul cultivator from back then?"

Lin Feng didn't bother to reply, and instead cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Master Xuanqing: "Sect Leader, I'll go and call the men right away."

Master Xuanqing nodded.

After leaving the main hall, Lin Feng went straight to the outer sect's martial arts arena, where twenty inner sect disciples at the peak of Foundation Establishment were already waiting.

He glanced around, too lazy to offer any empty morale-boosting platitudes, and simply pointed southwest: "The demonic cultivators have burned down three villages and are now heading towards the Spirit Vein Treasury. Our job is to intercept them."

The disciples tensed up for a moment, but none of them shrank back.

Lin Feng ascended into the sky on his sword, followed by twenty sword lights that pierced the sky and rushed straight towards the Sunset Mountain Range.

Two hours later, they intercepted the vanguard of the demonic cultivators at Iron Ridge.

About thirty black-robed demon cultists marched along the road at the foot of the mountain, escorting several carts piled high with the grain and supplies they had just plundered, as well as a few mortals chained up.

Lin Feng didn't waste any words and raised his hand to strike with his sword.

The Frost Sword, enveloped in icy air, descended from the sky and struck the cart at the very front of the convoy, creating a three-foot-long crack in the ice.

The demonic cultivators stopped abruptly, and the front-row members drew their weapons and looked up at them.

Lin Feng landed from his sword, and twenty Qingyun disciples followed, lining up behind him.

A bald man with a scarred face stepped out from the demonic cultivators opposite, squinting as he looked around: "Is that all the people? Is Qingyun Palace out of manpower?"

Lin Feng pulled the Frost Sword from the ground, pointed it downwards, and casually slashed it, causing the ice crevice to crack open by two feet.

"Release those few carts of ordinary people in the back," he said.

The bald, scarred man sneered and raised his hand, making a gesture.

The thirty or so demonic cultivators behind them moved at the same time, their black mist surging forward.

Before they could get close, Lin Feng activated his movement technique.

The purple-robed figure passed through the front row of demonic cultivators like a ghost, the Frost Sword leaving a trail of frost. Wherever it passed, two demonic cultivators clutched their throats and collapsed, kneeling before they could even spit out blood.

Twenty Qingyun disciples followed and rushed into the formation.

With the support of the Azure Cloud Technique, the difference between a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator and a mid-Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator wasn't significant. Lin Feng specifically targeted Golden Core stage demonic cultivators, eliminating them with a single step once his movement technique was activated.

Seeing that things were not going well, the bald man with the scarred face turned around and ran away.

Before he could run three steps, a streak of icy blue sword energy caught up from behind and pierced his heart with pinpoint accuracy.

The bald man stumbled forward two steps and fell face down into the muddy ground by the roadside.

An hour later, about thirty demonic cultivator corpses lay scattered across the official road of Iron Ridge.

Twenty Qingyun disciples suffered no casualties, five sustained minor injuries, and the others who were seriously injured stabilized after taking healing pills.

Lin Feng ordered the mortals on the cart to be released, gave them some travel money, and sent them north to the nearest town.

He led his men to continue searching.

They chased for another forty miles and intercepted the second group of demonic cultivators at Luoyan Slope.

This group was larger than the previous one, numbering about forty people, and was led by an old man at the peak of the Golden Core stage.

Seeing that Lin Feng only had the fifth level of the Golden Core cultivation, the old man smiled so much that the wrinkles on his face were squeezed together, and with a wave of his hand, a cloud of demonic black mist descended.

Lin Feng summoned the Zhenyue Glazed Shield to block the black mist, while his Qing Shuang Sword thrust straight at the old man's face.

The old man raised his hand and threw out a magic shield to block, but the Frost Sword pierced through and cracked the shield, and the frost froze directly onto his arm along the sword.

The old man's expression changed, and just as he was about to pull away, Lin Feng used his movement technique to circle behind him and pierced his lower back with a sword.

When the remaining forty demonic cultivators saw their leader fall, they panicked and scattered in all directions.

Lin Feng ordered a chase, killing all those he could, and leaving the rest behind those who had fled too far.

The third group of demonic cultivators received the news and immediately abandoned their eastward route, turning back and plunging deep into the Sunset Mountains. Lin Feng chased them to the edge of the mountains but didn't go any further. The group led by the Nascent Soul cultivators hadn't shown up yet, and going in rashly would likely result in losses.

That night, he returned to Qingyun Palace with his men.

After hearing the report, Master Xuanqing's expression softened slightly: "Two batches were intercepted, and one batch escaped. The spiritual vein vault is temporarily safe."

Su Wanqing added from the side, "The royal family should also send people to investigate in the next few days. We'll have an explanation to give then."

Lin Feng nodded, said nothing more, and turned back to Xiaozhu Peak.

He pushed open the door to the sleeping quarters at the summit, casually took off his dusty outer robe, sat down on the futon, and took out two white ginseng roots to gnaw on.

The feeling of spiritual energy flowing into his meridians filled him with comfort for an hour. He felt the barrier of the fifth level of the Golden Core stage loosen slightly, and he was not far from the sixth level.

When he returned to Little Bamboo Peak, the moon was high overhead. He casually tossed a low-grade Spirit Gathering Pill into his mouth, then sat cross-legged and began to circulate his cultivation technique.

In one night, he reached the sixth level of the Golden Core stage.

As dawn broke outside the window, Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

He stood up and stretched his shoulders, about to go wash up, when another transmission talisman flew over from the main peak.

"Peak Master Lin, we captured a demonic cultivator yesterday who attempted to infiltrate the sect's barrier. The sect leader requests your presence for interrogation."

Lin Feng stepped out of the cave and flew towards the main peak on his sword.

Lin Feng threw the jade pendant back onto the table and looked down at the person kneeling on the ground.

This demonic cultivator looked to be in his thirties, with a pale face. His cultivation level had been suppressed by the Spirit Binding Rope to the point that he couldn't even use Qi Refining, but his lips remained taut, clearly indicating that he didn't intend to speak.